Tag Archives: Industry

German Factory Production Drops Unexpectedly In June

August 7, 2017 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

But don’t you worry about that, New York Times. I know how the Germans tick and they’ll be churning out those factories again at full speed in no time.

Production

The Federal Statistical Office said Monday that June industrial output was down 1.1 percent over the previous month with drops in the production of capital, consumer and intermediate goods. Economists had predicted a slight rise, but only energy sector production grew.

Deutsche Produktion sinkt überraschend – Ökonomen hatten einen neuen Schub für die deutsche Wirtschaft erwartet. Doch sie wurden enttäuscht, die Industrieproduktion gibt nach. Experten machen dennoch Hoffnung.

 

VW?

July 24, 2017 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, History, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , 2 Comments

As in Very Wicked?

VW

What’s with German automobile companies these days? As if their latest foray into organized crime wasn’t enough, now it’s reported that VW was active in helping Brazil’s military dictatorship persecute opponents back in the day. Volkswagen and military dictatorships? No way.

The accusations are not new, but have resurfaced through a new investigation done by a group of German news organizations. According to the group, Germany’s largest car manufacturer, Volkswagen, was an active participant in the persecution and oppression of political opponents of Brazil’s military dictatorship that was in power from 1964 to 1985.

The company’s Brazilian subsidiary, Volkswagen do Brasil, which has been active in the country since the early 1950s, is accused of spying on some workers and looking into their political convictions, information that was then handed over to the police.

Damn. This gives Made in Germany a whole new meaning – again.

Deutsche Medien haben nach eigenen Angaben Belege dafür gefunden, dass Volkswagen sich in der Zeit der brasilianischen Militärdiktatur aktiv an politischer Verfolgung und Unterdrückung beteiligt hat.

600,000 Jobs

July 19, 2017 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

More or less.

According to a study conducted by the ifo economic institute, some 600,000 jobs in the German automobile industry would be lost if the planned ban on combustion engines in Germany in 2030 goes through, which of course it will and must (this is Germany, after all).

Morgenthau

Damn. The Greens & Co. have developed a little Morgenthau Plan of their own. A little late, but still. Germany as Agrarland (agricultural country)? Why not? Germany first or something.

Mehr als 600.000 deutsche Industriearbeitsplätze wären laut einer Studie direkt oder indirekt betroffen, wenn ab 2030 keine Autos mit Verbrennungsmotoren mehr zugelassen werden dürften.

Germany Leaps Forward Again

October 10, 2016 By in Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, High Art, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings, Hysteria Tags: , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

In the saving the world game, I mean.

Unsinn

And here you thought the Germans shutting down their nuclear power plants after an accident in Japan was hardcore enough (and it was). Now they’re going to outlaw internal combustion engines (albeit not until the year 2030).

Amazing Scheiße, I find. It does make me wonder what they’re going to be outlawing next, however. I would have bet on the wheel but it’ll be pretty much taken care of as soon as the internal combustion engines go so I’m now going to put my money on fire itself. Do you have any idea how much CO2 cooking your food releases into the atmosphere? Me neither, but you can be sure that it’s way too much. At least in Germany.

Being a subscriber to Mad Magazine, when I first saw the title of this article at Gizmodo recently, I assumed I’d mixed up my bookmarks and gone to the wrong site. “German Lawmakers Vote to Ban the Internal Combustion Engine.” Oh, come on, man. That can’t be right, can it? The home of some of the higher performance engines in the history of fine cars can’t seriously be talking about this, can they? Well color me embarrassed because, with a few caveats, it turned out to be true.

Latest Imperial Decree In The Pipeline

September 15, 2016 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Much like the repeated (and ignored) calls for “contingents” of refugees to be fairly distributed across the rest of EU Europe, the Empress of Europe (or at the very least of Germany) has now called on German industry to do more about hiring more refugees right here in Germany itself.

Merkel

“Sheesh. We’ve already hired over a hundred (that’s one one and two zeros),” one irritable spokesman for German blue-chip companies lamented. “From the million or two that came into the country last year that’s, well, a pretty good start. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know. Nor destroyed in a day, for that matter. An empress ought to know this kind of stuff.”

“Given that around 80 percent of asylum seekers are not highly qualified and may not yet have a high level of German proficiency, we have primarily offered jobs that do not require technical skills or a considerable amount of interaction in German.”

German Of The Day: Dreck Am Stecken

September 20, 2015 By in Habeas Corpus, Habitudes, Hard Facts, Health, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings, Hustle (Hoax), Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

That means there is dirt stuck (to you) somewhere or you have dirt under your carpet – as in having done something wrong or illegal.

Dreck

You know, like Volkswagen has/does in US-Amerika? The company inserted a device into almost 500,000 cars meant to trick emissions testing, the EPA says. Volkswagen is not denying this.

So the next time Germans begin those tiring lectures about doing more for the Umwelt (another German word meaning environment), remember to make sure and check if their emissions are make-believe or not.

There are almost 500,000 vehicles on American roads with the devices installed, according to the EPA. Volkswagen must now pay to repair the emissions systems in affected cars. The government may also fine the company as much as $18 billion.

German Of The Day: König Kunde

August 27, 2015 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Hi-tech, Higher Education, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

That sounds a bit like King Kong but actually means king customer or the customer is king, if you prefer. And it’s nice to be the king, as you well know.

Uncle Sam

For decades, France was the single biggest importer of German goods. But that’s changed now. The United States has taken the pole position among clients for “Made in Germany” goods for the first time.

Seit dem Jahr 1961 kauft kein Land so viele deutsche Produkte wie Frankreich. Das hat sich nun geändert. Und auch damit zu tun, dass Amerika wieder mehr auf die Industrie setzt.

PS: But thank goodness Germany still has its trade with ten foot tall China, too.

 

Capitalism Causes All This Awful German Affluence

February 24, 2015 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Humor, Hurt Feelings, Hypochondria, Hypocrisy, Hysteria Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

And it must be stopped immediately (the capitalism, not the affluence). And let’s get rid of democracy while we’re at it.

Democracy

Survey says… Nearly a third of Germans believe that capitalism is the cause of poverty and hunger.

The poll of 1,400 people found that 59 percent of Germans in the formerly communist east consider communist and socialist ideals a good idea for society. In western Germany, 37 percent said they considered communist and socialist ideals to be good…

The survey found that more than 60 percent of Germans believe there is no genuine democracy in their country because industry has too much political influence and that the voice of the voters plays only a subordinate role.

Although not covered by this particular survey, capitalism and democracy are clearly also the cause behind the German obesity problem, the German six weeks of vacation a year problem, the German lowest unemployment rate and highest per capita (does that word come from capitalism?) savings in all of Europe problems, too. To name just a few.

Einer Studie zufolge glauben mehr als 60 Prozent der Bürger, dass in Deutschland keine echte Demokratie herrscht.

Buy Amerikan!

October 5, 2014 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Humor Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

These are not real Germans.

Germans

Don’t be fooled by the authentic German attire and flags. These are actually US-Amerikaner with German Wurzeln. Only now they call them roots.

America’s German roots are rich and strong. From California to New York, 48m people claim German ancestry, which would make them the country’s biggest diaspora. But when it comes to owning businesses in America, Germany has punched below its weight, with only 8% of the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) there. It ranks 7th, behind France, Britain and Japan, among others. British and Japanese firms are especially prone to megalomaniac episodes in which they seek, and fail, to conquer America. German firms have been more cool-headed.

This year, however, things have changed. German giants such as Siemens, SAP, Bayer and Infineon have been on a spree, so far spending more than $65 billion on American firms. Of all the American companies receiving foreign bids this year, a fifth were from German buyers, measured by value. And of all the cross-border takeovers worldwide led by German firms, 60% were for American firms.

Update: Why Germans Always Pay Cash?

September 23, 2014 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hi-tech, Higher Education, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Because they can. Take cash-stuffed German mega-companies, for instance.

Cash

They’re buying everything they can find in US-Amerika these days that hasn’t been tied down.

In recent days, two multibillion-dollar deals were announced. On Sunday, the German engineering conglomerate Siemens announced a $7.6 billion acquisition of the Dresser-Rand Group, the United States oil products company. And on Monday morning, Merck of Germany, the chemical and drug giant, said it would pay $17 billion for Sigma-Aldrich, an American life sciences company.

PS: Remember when Japan was going to take over the United States? No, I guess you wouldn’t remember that. Never mind.